THE PROBLEM OF DEFINING AN ETHNIC GROUP FOR PUBLIC
POLICY: WHO IS MĀORI AND WHY DOES IT MATTER?
Tahu Kukutai[1]
StanfordUniversity
PhD student
Abstract
Governments in multicultural democracies are increasingly being challenged to justify the collection of ethnic and racial data, and the targeted policies they support. Given mounting opposition to ethnic-based policies in New Zealand, it is timely to consider two questions that have arisen from ongoing debate. The first is what criteria ought to apply to determine who is Māori for policy purposes. The second is which Māori ought to benefit from targeted policies and programmes. This paper addresses both questions empirically and makes two suggestions: (1) that statistical and legal definitions of Māori be amended to take account of both self-identified ethnicity and descent; (2) that programmes which seek to militate Māori disadvantage be oriented towards those who strongly identify as Māori, since they are the most likely to be in need.
INTRODUCTION
With the new millennium has come rising opposition to the collection of ethnic and racial data and the policies and programmes they support (Connerly 2003, Nobles 2000, Perlmann and Waters 2002, Petersen 1997).[2] A central critique of race- and ethnic-based policies is that they belie the cultural and socio-economic diversity that exits within historically marginalised groups. Clearly not all persons who identify with a disadvantaged group are themselves disadvantaged. The objectivity and accuracy of the data that inform policy decisions have also come under scrutiny. In order to monitor and address disparities, policy makers need reliable and consistent ways to define racial and ethnic groups, and to identify their members. However, intermarriage and changing ideas about race have complicated how people self-identify, and are identified by others (Goldstein and Morning 2002, Harris and Sim 2002, Perlmann and Waters 2002). Increasingly, the treatment of ethnic groups as discrete is problematised by the ability and willingness of individuals to claim multiple affiliations.
Indigenous peoples[3] such as Māori exemplify the problem that policy makers face in dealing with heterogeneity. High rates of intermarriage and institutional pressures to assimilate mean they comprise persons with diverse lifestyles, socio-economic circumstances and identities. Yet, for reasons of history and contemporary politics, public policy tends to treat them as homogeneous (Chapple 2000, Cunningham et al. 2002, Gardiner-Garden 2003, Snipp 2002). Typically indigenous peoples are the only ethnic groups with government agencies to monitor their outcomes, and deliver policies designed to improve their poor group-level status (Birrell 2000, Cobo 1986).[4] Their claim as original or sovereign peoples also confers specific legal rights relating to ownership of land and natural resources, cultural preservation, and political representation.
Given this, indigenous peoples tend to figure prominently in national debates on race, ethnicity, and resources.[5] Certainly in New Zealand there is growing disquiet about the appropriateness and fairness of policies and practices that would appear to assist individuals on the basis of ethnicity. Indeed, at the time of writing a host of targeted policies and programmes were under review, including several major ones aimed at Māori.[6] It is timely, therefore, to give closer scrutiny to some of the issues that have been central to domestic debates about ethnic data and policies.
Underlying the debate is the fundamental question of how to define an ethnic or racial group in contexts where rewards and resources are involved. While this is a matter of consequence for all ethnic groups in New Zealand, it has particular implications for Māori. This paper considers emerging approaches to defining ethnic or racial group membership generally, before turning to the specific context of New Zealand. Related to the issue of definition is the matter of entitlement, and which Māori ought to benefit from public policy interventions. Comparisons are drawn with other indigenous populations with regard to definition and policy entitlement.
THE PROBLEM OF DEFINING COLLECTIVE AND INDIVIDUAL ETHNICITY
Over the last decade or so the process and politics of ethnic enumeration have attracted growing attention in New Zealand (Baehler 2002, Chapple 2000, Gould 1992, 2000), and elsewhere (Goldstein and Morning 2002, Nobles 2000, Perlmann and Waters 2002, Smelser et al. 2001, Snipp 2003). This has been due, in part, to the recognition of the key role of ethnic and racial data in political decisions. Such data are routinely used to inform policy formulation, resource allocation, and the determination of electoral boundaries. As awareness of the political importance of ethnic enumeration has grown, so too has the perception that it works to the benefit of minorities (Petersen 1997, Prewitt 2002). This sentiment was manifest in the attempt in California to halt the collection of racial data by state agencies. The so-called Racial Privacy Initiative, or Proposition 54, challenged the “relevance and efficacy of race as a basis for solving many of the problems that cry out for solution” (Connerly 2003). Although defeated, Prop 54 represents an important shift taking place in many countries, away from an implicit acceptance of the need for ethnic and race-based policies, to a more critical position challenging their ongoing justification and utility. In the United States, for example, four states have repealed affirmative action while ongoing legal challenges seek to dismantle programmes intended exclusively for Native Hawaiians.
An argument often leveled in support of efforts to remove targeted policies is the imprecision of racial and ethnic data. There are at least three sources of imprecision. One is inter-marriage because it blurs the boundaries of groups treated as mutually exclusive for policy and political purposes. It also confers options for people to choose their identity, and thus introduces uncertainty and flux. An example is “ethnic mobility” – when persons change their ethnic or racial affiliation over time, or in different contexts (Coope and Piese 1997, Eschbach et al. 1998, Harris and Sim 2002, Statistics New Zealand 2004). A second source of imprecision is the instrument employed to collect the data, and the inconsistencies and imperfections in the methods and concepts used (Hirschman 1992). A third is the shift in thinking about race. Once viewed as a permanent trait rooted in biology, race is now more commonly understood (by academics at least) as a social category that is produced and sustained through a variety of mechanisms (Smelser et al. 2001:3). In keeping with this shift, many developed countries now allow for multiple-race and ethnic responses in official data collections.
Given that indigenous populations in the “fourth world” are becoming larger and more heterogeneous, the question arises as to who can legitimately claim to be indigenous, when positive incentives to claim that identity exist. As Nagel notes, “Discussions about group eligibility are often translated into controversies surrounding individual need, individual ethnicity, and ethnic proof” (1994:160). The question of who is Māori has been the subject of considerable debate (Butcher 2003, Callister 2003, Chapple 2000, Durie 2001, Gould 2000, Kukutai 2003, Pool 2001 1991). At the heart of the problem of defining ethnic group membership is the lack of definitive criteria. In this case, just what is it that makes a person Māori? Is it a preponderance of Māori ancestors – something akin to the notion of being a “full blood”? Is it knowledge of cultural practices and engagement in Māori networks? Is it having a Māori ancestor, no matter how far back? Or, is being Māori merely a state of mind? Clearly any criteria invoked are not objective, but are products of the motivations and cultural assumptions of those doing the classifying. However, given its importance for policy, the task of formulating a definition is both worthwhile and necessary.
Biological Criteria
Biological attempts to identify indigenous peoples are not new. Scholars and governments have long taken an interest in the level of intermix within indigenous populations, with various attempts to establish the number of “pure” Hawaiians (Morton et al. 1967), Māori (New Zealand Census 1926, Buck 1938), and American Indians (see Snipp 2002). In the context of pressures to assimilate, “half bloods” and “quarter-castes” (e.g. New Zealand census 1906) indicated the rate of absorption into the mainstream population – an outcome often viewed as inevitable and desirable. The use of blood samples was one way of estimating the extent of intermixing (Morton et al. 1967). More often, the notion of blood quantum was used. This sought to capture the amount of “racial heritage that could be ascribed to an individual” and, by association, the degree to which “certain behavioral characteristics might be manifested in individual behavior” (Snipp 2002:200). It also served as a way by which to limit eligibility for benefits. Until the 1970s the Bureau of Indian Affairs and Indian Health Service used blood quantum to decide eligibility for benefits and privileges. Proof usually involved tracing one’s ancestry to a full-blood ancestor recorded in historical documents such as the census. As Snipp (1997) notes, it is remarkable that such documents were considered definitive given the high likelihood of error. Nevertheless, the modern BIA continued to issue a Certificate of Indian Blood to applicants who sought verification of their Indian ancestry.
In Hawaii blood quantum is used to determine eligibility for a homestead lease from the Department of Hawaiian Homelands. Applicants must have a blood quantum of at least 50% Hawaiian, defined specifically as “any descendant of not less than one-half part of the blood of the races inhabiting the Hawaiian Islands previous to 1778” (Department of Hawaiian Homelands 2004). Until 1974, and the passing of the Māori Affairs Amendment Act, a Māori was defined as someone with “half or more blood”. However, the definition was rather loosely applied, and did not require persons to provide proof of their “blood quantum” in order to receive whatever benefits were then available.
A recent innovation in the biological approach to defining ethnic and racial groups involves gene mapping to trace paternal ancestry from father to son (via the Y chromosome), and maternal lineage from mother to daughter or son (via mitochondrial DNA). One study took segments of mitochondrial DNA from the hair and blood of 54 Māori to estimate the number of the founding female population (Robinson 1998). Elsewhere, it has been used for more pernicious purposes. In the United States, a bill was introduced into the Vermont Legislature in 2000 (Bill H.809) in an attempt to impose standards and procedures for DNA testing to determine the identity of an individual as an American Indian. Although it failed, the expectation was that the results of such testing would be conclusive proof of Native American ancestry. Similar arguments for DNA testing to determine Aboriginal authenticity have been advanced in Australia (The Australian, 9 Sept. 1988).
DNA testing is justified by its proponents as a baseline test to verify an individual’s biological claim to belong to an ethnic or racial group, particularly where rewards are at stake. However, given its association with the dubious pseudo-scientific racism of the past, there has been reluctance on the part of governments to endorse its validity. Within academia there has been both methodological and substantive criticism of the role of genetics in determining membership in cultural groups. A key criticism is that the presence of a genetic marker may have little bearing on the lived reality of being part of a minority cultural or social group (Rotimi 2003).
Cultural Criteria
The alternative approach to biology is socio-cultural and typically focuses on measures of cultural identity or ethnic group attachment. In New Zealand, there have been various attempts to measure Māori identity, including Ritchie’s “degree of Māoriness” scale (1963) and Metge’s schema of “Māoritanga” (1964). More recently, researchers involved in the study of Māori households at MasseyUniversity have proposed a single measure of Māori cultural identity. The continuous measure is a weighted aggregate of an individual’s scores on seven cultural indicators (Cunningham et al. 2002, Stevenson 2004). Māori language has the highest weighting, followed by involvement with the extended family, knowledge of ancestry, and self-identification, all of which are equally weighted. The rationale for the weighting is based on a subjective assessment of the contribution of each to a “unique Māori identity”. It presupposes that there is something culturally unique about Māori, and that this can be approximated through proxy indicators that can be prioritised, quantified and aggregated. Elsewhere, researchers have used language use, religious affiliation and/or network ties as measures of ethnic attachment (Reitz and Sklar 1997).
A simpler approach has been to distinguish between single-ethnic and multi-ethnic peoples. The latter are of interest because of the concern that out-marriage dilutes ethnic identity, which in turn weakens group solidarity and concomitant claims based on cultural uniqueness (Birrell 2000). The underlying assumption is that those who identify with multiple ethnicities have a weaker sense of cultural identity or group attachment, than their single-ethnic counterparts do. From a policy perspective, the distinction between single- and multi-ethnic persons is easier to operationalise than either cultural indicators or biological “proofs”. Thus, it seems more likely to be accepted by policy makers as a way of dealing with heterogeneity, and is deserving of closer attention. This is taken up in the next section, with reference to Māori.
MĀORI: A CASE STUDY FOR DEFINING AN INDIGENOUS POPULATION
Māori Ancestry and Ethnicity
At present, different criteria are used to determine who is a Māori, and these vary according to legal, tribal and policy contexts. The Māori Ethnic Group (MEG) is the reference group used for administrative and policy purposes. Cultural identity is the underlying operational definition of ethnic group as it is used in official statistics.[7] An ethnic group is composed of people who have some or all of the following characteristics:
•a common proper name
•one or more elements of a common culture which need not be specified, but may include religion, customs or language
•unique community of interests, feelings and actions
•a shared sense of common origins or ancestry
•a common geographic origin (Statistics New Zealand 2004).
In contrast, most statutes use ancestry criteria to define who is a Māori. The Māori Land Act, and numerous other statutes, define Māori as “a person of the Māori race and includes any descendant”. Only persons of Māori descent can enrol in a Māori electorate to vote for candidates to occupy Māori seats in Parliament, or lodge a claim with the Waitangi Tribunal. Ancestry is the closest concept to whakapapa (genealogy), which has customarily underpinned any claim to being Māori. As Stevenson (2004) has argued, membership in a cultural group requires a mandate for inclusion, and for Māori this is a Māori ancestor. Thus, ancestry is often treated as an objective basis for identity and serves a gatekeeping function, albeit that the process of recalling ancestry has subjective elements (Waters 1990).
Table 1Parameters for Māori Population, by Ancestry, Ethnicity and Iwi, 1991–2001
Year1991 / Yes / Ancestry
No / N/S* / Total
Ethnicity / Yes
No plus N/S / 393,102
(76.9)
118,173
(23.2) / 9,327
- / 32,421
- / 434,850
118,173
Iwi** / Yes
N/S
Total / 368.655
(72.1)
146,991
(28.8)
511,275
(100.0%) / -
-
- / -
-
- / 368,655
146,991
511,275
1996
Ethnicity / Yes
No plus N/S / 486,396
(83.9)
93,318
(16.1) / 12,540
- / 24,435
- / 523,371
93,318
Iwi / Yes
N/S
Total / 425,745
(73.4)
154,794
(26.7)
579,714
(100.0%) / -
- / -
- / 425,745
154,794
579,714
2001
Ethnicity / Yes / 487,317
(80.1)
116,790
(19.9) / 5,322
- / 33,642
- / 526,281
116,790
Iwi / Yes
N/S
Total / 454,479
(75.2)
149,634
(24.8)
604,113
(100.0%) / -
- / 14,500***
- / 454,479
149,634
604,113
Source: 2001 Census: Iwi, Highlights Fig. 5; 2001 Census: Iwi, Table 1.
Notes:* N/S = “Don’t know” plus “Not elsewhere included” (failed to specify, response unidentifiable).
** Iwi population sums to more than 100% for 1991 and 1996. The reason for this is not stated. Figures are “Total People Stated”, and thus should not include multiple responses (i.e. “Total Responses”).
*** Figure supplied by Statistics New Zealand (personal communication). Comparable figures for 1991 and 1996 were not available.
In 1991 a question on Māori ancestry was introduced in the census to meet legal requirements for determining electoral representation. At the request of tribes, a prompt for tribal affiliation was also incorporated. Thus it is possible to compare the Māori populations defined by ancestry, ethnicity and tribal affiliation. These are shown in Table 1.
Clearly there is a high degree of overlap between the various parameters. Given that ethnicity is the concept used for official purposes, how discriminating is it when compared to other expressions of Māoriness? Do persons who have no ancestral claim to being Māori nevertheless identify as Māori? The results in Table 1 suggest not. In 2001, 93% of persons who identified as members of the MEG were also of Māori descent (487,317/526,281 x 100). Of the remaining 7%, just 1% explicitly denied having Māori ancestry while 5% did not answer the question. Interestingly, half of those went on to give a valid iwi response, perhaps because they did not see the descent question as delivering useful information on its own.[8]
Those individuals who have no Māori descent yet identify as Māori challenge the assumption that one must have a Māori ancestor in order to identify as Māori. Anthropological studies provide clues as to why persons with no Māori ancestry might identify as Māori. These include being raised in a Māori family, residing in a Māori community, or marrying a Māori (Metge 1964). They are, however, a small proportion of the overall MEG. The important point to be derived from Table 1 is that ethnicity is almost always co-terminous with ancestry. This suggests that Māori ethnic identity is not just a “state of mind” (Du Fresne 2000).
Having a Māori ancestor, however, does not engender identification as a Māori. Of the 604,113 persons who reported being of Māori descent in 2001, about one in five did not identify as Māori. This asymmetry should be interpreted within the historical context of intermix and the lack of a hypo-descent (“one drop”) rule in New Zealand. Historically there have been few formal barriers preventing those of Māori ancestry from assimilating into the European population and, for the most part, public policy was designed to facilitate this goal (Hunn and Booth 1962).[9]
Tribal Membership
In addition to ethnicity and ancestry there is the “flax roots” view that identification as a Māori depends foremost on tribal affiliation (Broughton 1993, Karetu 1990). This arises from the historical fact that indigenous identity was predicated on hapū (sub-tribal) and iwi (tribal) membership, with pan-tribal Māori identity a construct of colonisation. Many tribes now have their own member rolls, and in order to be registered, applicants are usually required to provide details of the hapū, iwi and marae affiliations of their parent(s) and grandparent(s). Typically only those who are registered members qualify for benefits such as marae-based housing or tertiary scholarships.